Overcoming a Sad Tale
by Guile Mustang
Summary: Steena mused about her impermanent relationship with Guile, as symbolized by a rose she received from him.


OVERCOMING A SAD TALE

This is a one-shot inspired by the song _Owaranai Monogatari_ (or _Never Ending Story_) of Digimon Tamers. Thanks to my friends referring to this song, I searched and listened to it, and got the idea to write this Guile x Steena one-shot. I recommend listening to the song while reading this one-shot, as this focuses the meaning of moving past grief and the melancholy tone of the song. And yes, this contains **_character death_**. Guile is not Magus, although it contains some references to the speculation.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Chrono Cross and the song _Owaranai Monogatari_ of Digimon Tamers.

ooo

Here I was, standing and looking at a wilted rose in a vase in front of me. That flower was a gift from Guile, a magnificent but unfortunate sorcerer. When he gave it to me, it was fresh and fragrant, but soon, it wilted and lost its luster. Sure you might wonder why I was still keeping this withered rose with me. It meant a lot, although it was just a dead plant. Aside from it holding so much sweet memories between the two of us, it also represented another meaning: impermanence. Why did I say so? It was a very long story… It started from my formerly blooming relationship with him.

I could not help but smile as I remembered him being a man with few words. He did not talk much, and it was me who had to start a conversation most of the time. But that was not the only matter. Whenever I talked to him, the cheeks below his golden mask reddened. It was quite frequent that he stuttered a bit when he spoke to me. However, I found out that he was only like that whenever he talked to me, nobody else. This was what that made me suspect that he had a crush on me.

A week before that miserable day, my suspicion grew after rethinking about the first time we got to know each other. Why? It all began last week, from him wanting to know more about the legend of this village. He asked me, and of course, I gave him a long answer. However, as I spoke, he barraged me with lots of questions. Perhaps I could say that the two of us were like an intelligent lecturer and a curious student. Sounded normal, wasn't it? Yes, it should have been very normal, only if he could be less nervous when asking those questions.

Soon, I decided to initiate a more intimate conversation with him, by asking about his feelings to me. I did receive an answer from him, although he looked away from me when he spoke. Despite this, I could tell that he was not lying with that statement. Why? Well, he was just as timid as usual; instead of saying aloud, he whispered these three words to me: "I love you."

Hearing that, my heart throbbed as if there were no tomorrow. I had never thought that he would say that. He was a bashful man, but now he had the courage to admit everything. Then, how did I react? I smiled, and calmly told him not to be afraid to tell, or even show that he truly loved me. And he did thank me for my advice, and would struggle to get out of his shy nature.

Days passed, and we often spent our time together. As moments slipped by, he became more talkative to me. It was a bit weird, wasn't it? A shy person opening up so much… At first, it struck me as odd, but soon, he seemed to be able to trust me more than anybody else. Perhaps it was because I had told him a lot about myself, including my position as a chief of this village, my desire to be a better village chief, and how much I yearned for my deceased foster mother. Well, did you wonder why I could say that he trusted me? Actually, he had admitted the reason why he loved me.

_"Your knowledge of this world impresses me. That is why I love you. In addition, you are very kind… I am certain that the villagers here like you as a chief."_

I blushed when he spoke it out, because I had never been expecting him commenting about my position as a village chief. Honestly, I always liked it when people said that I made a good village chief. That was what I wanted to be since my foster mother died, and I was hoping that I could live long enough to keep improving myself to be a better chieftain.

Aside from that, he also told me about his youth. It was an interesting topic, to be honest. Slowly, I managed to learn more and more about him. He confided that he had always been a lone wolf since he was young, and now, he was just a lone wanderer. But still water ran deep; his mastery of magic was incredible. People always said that mankind could not defy gravity, but this law did not apply to him. He could fly on his will. And this was not the only power he had. He was truly marvelous, save for that creepy ability. And I believed that you would find out what that skill was after I had done telling my story.

A day before that forlorn day, he asked me to see him at the dock at night. It was quite surprising, wasn't it? Well, that was still not as surprising as the night. He brought a rose with him, and at the moment he handed it to me, I did not see him blushing anymore. He did not stutter when he talked to me as well. He did make a lot of progressions since the day he confessed his love to me, and I was truly glad.

However, I had to tell a white lie. I smiled and thanked him, hiding the truth that I disliked flower as a gift. Why? Flowers symbolized impermanence; nothing was eternal. It was fresh and fragrant at first, but a few hours later, it wilted. But if it were him who gave me flower, I accepted. I could not bring myself to make him more timid by rejecting his gift… After all, I also wanted him to be more confident.

How was his reaction? Telling you, his face was cold and expressionless, which had me confused. I suspected that he knew that I was lying to him… But no, I believed in him. I knew that a person like him would feel embarrassed if he found out that he failed to amuse me. However, I became curious. So curious about what had shifted his mood… Well, I bet I would be going too far now, but I wanted to ask him about how much he loved me.

I asked him, and I was shocked that he answered me with his head bowed. His answer… I would never forget that, ever!

_"I wish our relationship can last long, but I fear that it cannot."_

A strange answer, wasn't it? With the best of my knowledge, I tried to decipher his cryptic statement, but I failed. It was not until the incident tomorrow.

The next day was the day when he departed to a different world. Even after he had told me that mysterious answer, I was not even expecting that such incident would happen. Honestly, I hated recalling what happened to him.

It all began with a coincidence. Hearing that the element shop had begun selling new elements from the mainland, I decided to have a look. And never had I expected to see him 'window shopping' at the shop too. His eyes seemed to be locked at a bunch of displayed orbs on a wooden shelf, but not until I called him. He turned to me, and did you know what he told me?

_"I believe that the time is coming. Please forgive me, Steena… You have to live on because everybody here needs you."_

I wondered what was wrong with him; he had been acting strangely since last night. All of a sudden, he interrupted my thoughts by wrapping his arms on me and pulling me into a tight hug. He was not trying to kiss or do any crazy things on me; I was sure of it because he was a timid man, and would never do such thing in public.

It only took less than a minute to figure out everything though. There was a whirring sound coming closer to us. I brought my head hitting his chest hard in hopes that I could break free of his grasp to see what was really happening, but I failed. However, as he screamed in pain and that whizzing noise stopped, his hug loosened. At that moment, I felt that his breath and heartbeat had just stopped.

I wanted to cry upon seeing his motionless body lying on a pool of blood, but would tears bring him back? No. When one had died, in no way he or she could return. Now, I had just learned that I had to tie his statement yesterday with what flowers symbolized. Like when a flower wilted, water could never return its freshness and fragrance. Honestly, I had never thought that he also knew that flowers represented impermanence. But what had truly surprised me was that he knew when one would die, and somehow he managed to prevent it...with his life.

Then, a girl called me, disrupting my thoughts. Turning and looking at her, I knew that she was afraid of what she had done. Her eyes were filled with fear, and she was trembling. What did she say then?

_"I'm sorry! I've a-accidentally a-a-activated the Aero Saucer element and s-sent those razor-like things towards y-you and that m-m-mister! I d-don't m-mean to hurt a-anybody!"_

At first, I was thinking of strangling her to death for taking away the life of the person I loved. But if I did, I would lose my dignity as the chief of this village. She was just a little kid, and judging from her way of speaking, she did this unintentionally. In addition, hurting or even killing her only to quench my fury would never bring him back. Just like flowers. When someone had accidentally stomped and destroyed some blossoms, hurting that person would never restore those dead blooms. With this concept in my mind, I simply told her to be more careful next time… Somehow, I was successful in hiding the true grief in my heart.

Until now though, despite holding the belief that what had gone would never return, I often shed tears whenever I looked at the rose Guile gave me. Perhaps I was still too weak to accept the fact that the people I loved had died. But I was the chief of this village, and I had to be strong. Sooner or later, I had to learn to completely abandon those who had departed because nothing was eternal in this world.

ooo


End file.
